HANOI: Johor Darul Ta’zim FC head coach Xisco Munoz called the performance of Andoni Zubiaurre “decisive” as the Malaysia Super League outfit battled back to salvage a 1-1 draw with Nam Dinh FC in their Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup Group B clash in Ninh Binh on Thursday night (Feb 5).
Zubiaurre started ahead of Syihan Hazmi and justified his selection by making a pair of penalty saves – although Shopee Star of the Match Nguyen Van Vi scored from the rebound to give his side the lead – before Bergson da Silva struck from the spot in the 87th minute to earn JDT a point.
“We know his quality because we work with him every day,” Muñoz said of the Spaniard. “We also have a very good goalkeeper in Syihan, who has been performing very well this season.
“Today we decided to give him the opportunity, and he was decisive, especially saving both penalties, which is not easy. I am very happy for him because I know how hard he works every day, and when he gets the chance, he shows his level.”
Zubiaurre’s selection was one of several changes made to the starting line-up by Muñoz and the coach was pleased his altered side was able to secure a share of the points.
“We made some rotations in the team, which was important, and we managed to get a positive result here with a 1–1 draw,” he said.
“There were two or three key actions in defensive transition where they created danger, and we also had two or three good chances in the first 50 minutes where we could have scored the winning goal.
“After that, we had to make some changes and push forward to try and take all three points. Both teams competed well and played with good rhythm. It was a good game, both teams fought in a good way, and in the end we take the point.”
The result brought Nam Dinh’s perfect record in Group B to an end but the hosts’ head coach Mauro Jeronimo remained upbeat despite JDT’s late equaliser.
“I think we had a great performance,” he said. “I’m happy — of course, very happy would be if we had won the game, because with the chances we created and even the penalty situation, I believe we deserved more.
“But I’m really happy with the players’ attitude and delivery. They followed almost perfectly the tactical plan we prepared before the match. We had a very short period of time to prepare because we had just come from the V.League, but the players were extremely focused.
“They wanted to show that Nam Định can compete against any top team in this region, and I think they did that very, very well. Unfortunately, we needed to win this game and I believe we deserved to win it — but that’s football.”
For the record, both team qualified for the semifinals stage of the tournament. The top two finishers in each of the six-team groups have advanced to the semi-finals, which will be played on a home-and-away basis on May 6 and 13, with the final to be held on May 20 and 27.
Nam Dinh wil take on Selangor in the first semis while heavyweights Buriram United of Thailand will take on Malaysian top side JDT in the other semis.
